Are You A
Stressed Out Mama?
Want...
- Less nagging?
- Less frustration?
- More peace?
- More hugs?!
Don't Miss
Mama's Stress Busters.
|
|
Send This Page To A Friend
We've all said at one time or another, "I need help deciding what career to choose." You're not
alone in your frustration.
I am currently helping my third child get
ready for college. Here are some practical tips for choosing a career that I've learned along the
way.
First of all keep this in mind: overwhelmingly, career decisions do not just drop in your lap; you must...
- be proactive,
- do your research
- and, to the best of your ability, decide. (When the time comes, your best decision will be just fine.)
When you have completed these steps, you can feel confidant you
have done your best in choosing a career that will be a good fit for
you.
I need help deciding what career to choose - Step 1.
- Assessment tests are your friends.
Your goal in this step is to get to know yourself as well as is
reasonably possible in a condensed amount of time. It doesn't matter if
you're 15 looking ahead to college or you are 45 in desperate need of a
career change, skipping or short-cutting this step is the number one
reason you will be unhappy with your final career choice.
It seems simple enough: use career testing to assess your skills and
aptitudes. Then use this information to choose a handul of career paths. Do
a bit more research and pick one. And that IS the basic idea of this
step, but you must put your time and energy into it for it to pay off.
Do several career aptitude tests.
Take a personality test, like the Myers-Briggs, as well. You'll need to
put all this information together for best results. Think of it like
this. You are putting together a spectacular puzzle. At this stage you
are assembling the pieces. Each is vital to the end result even though
you can't see the final picture yet. Assemble those pieces and you will be helping yourself decide what career to choose.
Try to look at career assessments in a balanced
way. No test knows you like you do
and no test can TELL you what to do. Talk to trusted family and friends -- people who know you well --
about the results of these career and personality tests. Consider all
this information, then trust yourself. Remember, you need help deciding what career
to choose ... not someone to make the decision for you. Take lots of notes, organize them, and a pattern will start to emerge.
"'Around 50 percent of students enrolled at Central Michigan University
start their college careers not knowing what career to pursue', said
Julia Barlow Sherlock, director of Career Services.
'In addition, 85 percent of the ones who think they know what they want
to do end up changing their mind once they are in college', she said."
source media.www.cm-life.com
Step 2 in deciding what career to choose - time to do research.
- Research the top career fields from your career assessment testing.
Compare (and keep notes) on the following from all your career finalists.
- Job requirements.
- Education requirements.
- Job locations (urban/rural).
- Job conditions (inside office/outside field work, working with others, working by yourself, etc.).
- Industry-wide longterm career outlook.
- Portability into other careers (can this career be used as a springboard to other careers?).
- And, of course, salaries.
Listen to people who actually work in these categories by
visiting related forums and websites. If appropriate (and only
with your parent's approval if you're a minor) actually talk to people in
your first round career picks. For example, you might say something like, "I need help deciding what career to
choose. This one is looking interesting to me. What are its pros and
cons? Would you enter this career field again? Why or why not?" Thank them for their answers and carefully consider the information you've received.
Try to find information from both new hires and old-timers in the
career fields you are considering. In addition, do searches for any trade
journals or industry information in the careers you are considering.
In other words, start to make yourself comfortable with these top choices and see, over a bit of time, how well they 'fit' you.
Step 3 in "I need help deciding what career to choose" -- dig deeper.
The previous step will have eliminated some of your earlier career
choices. You probably only have a handful (or one or two) career picks
left at this point. So it's time to get serious about discovering why
these are good career choices for you or why they are not.
- If possible, do job shadowing on these top career choices.
Do you know anyone...who knows anyone...who works in these fields? If
it's a professional field, such as dentistry, law, engineering, etc.,
you might want to call up a local office in your chosen field and
explain that you are considering going into that career field and ask if
you could job shadow for a day. Offer to work alongside them, for free,
doing whatever work they can give you so you can get up close and
personal with this career idea. Treat this like an
opportunity for a real job. The people you talk to will appreciate your
professionalism. Whether they can help you or not, thank them and if
you do get the chance to job shadow for someone, a handwritten thank
you is a must.
==> At this point in your career search:
- sleep on it.
- pray about it.
- ask yourself "if money or education were no object, based on what I've learned so far, what would I decide today?"
- keep talking to those trusted family members and friends.
- make
a list of the parts of your career choice you are attracted to and the
parts that are bothering you. Why do you think you see things this way?
- remember
that there's no such thing as a total dream job. Every career choice
has its challenges and 'bad days'. Keep a balanced perspective.
- do you feel like a budding business owner? What is the education needed to be an entrepreneur?
Step 4 -- dive in and make a career choice.
By this stage, you may no longer be saying "I need help deciding what career to choose." If so, congratulations!
However, you may end up with equally appealing choices. At this point,
you'll just have to dive in and pick. Remember, this is a GOOD problem
to have!
Let's summarize on how to decide what career to choose.
- Get to know yourself through assessment and personality tests.
Talk about your plans with trusted family and friends; folks who really
know you and want the best for you.
- Deeply research your handful of career choices. A pattern will begin to emerge for you to see.
- As best you can, try on your career choice/s to date. Get a feel for what having them as a lifestyle would be like for you.
- Make your best decision...and get moving.
One more thing...once you decide, don't second guess yourself.
Since you've done your homework, any of these final career choices would probably be just fine for you.
So don't stress. Commit to yourself and your future. Feel excited about your choice and
start making plans to set your future in motion.
And congratulations!!
Share your thoughts or comments.
|
|
We enjoy and value feedback from our website visitors!
We also like to put visitor comments on our website for the benefit of other visitors.
If you submit comments, we ask your permission to share your comments on our website (see permission checkbox below).
We only ask for your name and email address in case we need to contact you for clarification.
Our strict privacy policy is that we will NOT share your name and email address with anyone else.
We will only use the first name and initial of your last name when saying where the comment or quote came from.
For example:
"This information was really useful!" - Jane S.
|
|
|
|
